SMOKIES GUIDE The Official Newspaper of Great Smoky Mountains National Park • Summer 2019
In This Issue Smokies Trip Planner • 2 Great Sights to See • 4 National Park News • 5 Elk Watching • 6 Park Etiquette • 7 Summer Driving Road Map • 8-9 Summer Ranger Programs • 10-14 You Can Help Park Science • 14 Jr. Ranger Corner • 15 Visitor Information • 16 Bright orange Tennessee Shiners surround a stoneroller on a chub nest in the West Fork of the Pigeon River. Image by Dave Herasimtschuk, Freshwaters Illustrated
Smoky Mountain Fish Put On Colorful Breeding Displays
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Large stone nests protect native spawn on the river bottom
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Words with a Ranger As the supervisory fishery biologist for Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I am responsible for protecting, preserving and managing more than 70 species of fish, setting fishing regulations for five species of game fish, and maintaining and improving the water quality of more than 2,900 miles of park streams and rivers. We protect and preserve fish populations by monitoring them annually, restoring native fish in select streams and working with neighboring state Words with a Ranger continued on page 5
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inks and purples, neon oranges and wisps of bright yellow shimmer in a dance of color under the flow of a clear mountain stream. One of the most spectacular displays of living color in the Smokies doesn’t fly through the air or bloom with the wildflowers—it billows in a ball at the bottom of a river. Early summer means it’s mating time for many species of fish in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Males of some native species like the River Chub and the Tennessee Shiner put on a particularly striking show. Male River Chubs begin to take on a pinkish-purple coloration in April to attract a mate, but they also play an ecological role by building large stone nests for their spawn out of pebbles gathered from the river bottom. Several smaller species of fish, which also take on distinctive hues to attract mates,
have adapted to rely on these very same mounds as safe spawning sites throughout May and June. At times in early summer, several species can be seen gathered at once in bright, shifting swarms above a single mound. “It’s quite a spectacle,” said Fisheries Technician Caleb Abramson. When the oranges and yellows of spawning Tennessee and Saffron Shiners intermingle, Abramson describes the shifting mass as a “fireball” of activity. Other fish including Central Stonerollers and Warpaint Shiners also use River Chub mounds as spawning sites. Although this summer show can be one of the more elusive for park visitors, spawning events can occur in most of the major lower-elevation streams throughout GSMNP, including the Little River and the Little Pigeon River. Research remains
to be done into the complex levels of interdependence between these and other remarkable Smoky Mountain natives.
TH A N K YO U FO R N OT M OVI N G RO CKS. Hellbenders live and nest under rocks. Leaving no trace protects this sensitive species.